torsdag 15. september 2016

It is about a river

Again the thoughts go back to the opening of the zonal conference in Athens. Polis and Maria tell about the dream that lead them back to their home country to start the Salvation Army’s mission. The stories are packed with images. They see themselves solely as links in a chain. Yet, the day when the Victoria Square, close to the corps, was filled with several thousand refugees, is a definite turning-point.

Maria describes the stream of refugees as a “river flowing through Europe”, a river of need, longing and hope. Where the need is, there is Jesus, and he needs us. “I will not just put my hand in that river”, says Maria, “I want to swim in it!” – and we who listen, know that she means it.

I see the river streaming from the throne of God, a river that mix with the flood of refugees and communicates faith, hope and love. My thoughts go to Ezekiel 47 and the river of life; the river that grows so big that you eventually have to swim. The water in the river makes dead water fresh, and…

Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.Ezek 47:9

A river runs through Europe. It is God's time for the nations. It is time for the ‘other’ trinity to reveal himself and spread a holy hope (1).